Making The Most of Your Most Valuable Resource

Let’s face it, money is pretty vital in the world we live in, but even more vital than money is the resource of time.

Time is an often overlooked and under-appreciated gift. We are all blessed with 24 hours each and every day, yet how many of these hours are spent doing things that truly matter to you – that fill your heart with joy and happiness? That light you up? Life is short and unpredictable, yet we sometimes live our lives as if tomorrow is somehow guaranteed; putting off the joy of living and feeling bogged down by all the things we have to do!

Think of this question for a moment. If you were to whizz forward twenty years from now, and look back at your life… would you be happy with the choices you made? Would you feel regret? Is there something or someone you lost that you would have fought harder for? Would you have spent your time in the way you have?

See, we live our lives with an innate knowing that we have a finite amount of time here – yet it’s not until something shakes us up, like the death of a close friend or a terminal diagnosis that we truly appreciate the value of time.

Today, for example, single mom’s are having to work such long hours they end up missing out on the joy of parenting – either they’re too emotionally exhausted from having to balance their career with being a mother, or they are so time-starved they barely get the chance to spend such precious time with their young children. Similarly, if you’re a single career-focused woman, your career can become your life… and with so much vying for our attention today, we need to look at ways to have more free time freedom to engage in the important things in life.

We’re often guilty of taking care of everyone else first, particularly if you have children, but it’s worth remembering that life is for you… as well as your family and career…. it’s important to set time aside for yourself too.

Time is an incredibly valuable and scarce resource; so let’s look at some time saving tips to help you focus on what matters most.

1. ORDER GROCERIES ONLINE

Think of how much time you could save if you were to simply order your groceries online and have them delivered to your door. The drive to the store, the time in the store, packing bags, driving back, unpackaging bags, not to mention the potential for traffic. Setting essential items to repeat on a weekly or monthly basis is a great way to keep on top of things without having to exert much mental energy.

2. GET A CLEANER

It’s true that not everyone can afford a cleaner, but this can be such a time (and sanity) saver, particularly for busy moms. In the alternative, you can always turn cleaning into a fun game where the kids get involved with cleaning as playtime activity; or set yourself a timer and see how much you can get done in just thirty minutes making cleaning a slightly more engaging and manageable task.

3. WORK REMOTELY

If possible, see if you can work remotely, from home, in a way that enables you to work flexible hours; this way, your time is your own. Similarly, if you study, nowadays you can study most courses online without needing to attend a physical class – as an example, you can even study technical qualification such as nursing by undertaking a RN to BSN Online Program. This not only saves time, but also money, as you don’t need to travel to the course or get additional accommodation.

4. ORGANIZE YOUR TIME

The convenience of online working and online studying means you have much more time to enjoy your life, and for that matter build a life. We spend far too much time living in reaction to work – trying to fit our lives in, yet it doesn’t have to be that way; the amount of time you can save by having a good planning system in place is phenomenal… a lot of “time management” comes down to first planning your tasks so that you can keep on top of things with ease.

5. COOK AHEAD

Consider investing in a foodsaver so that you can cook multiple portions of a meal at the same time, then freeze or refrigerate it for quick reheating. If you want to save even more time, then consider digging out your slow cooker, and letting it do the work for you.

[Editor’s note: This post is produced by one of our trusted partners.]